Making SAP SuccessFactors employee central work for you with NGA HR Cloud accelerator apps

With our clients always front of mind, NGA is the first SAP SuccessFactors partner to publish a mobile-enabled extension App for SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central on the SAP Store. In doing this, we have solved several long-standing HR and payroll process restraints within SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central.

Already, a German high street bank and a globally recognized telecoms provider have invested in the Case Management Central App and the pipeline is strong for this and for HR Request Central, which is scheduled for availability in the SAP Store. Further HR Cloud Extension Apps are in development.

Amit Soni, NGA’s Global Integration Leader – Successfactors, leading the development of the SAP HR Cloud Accelerators, explains during an interview why NGA’s HR Cloud Accelerators, developed on the HANA Cloud Platform, are great news for employers and employees and why we are the first SAP HR technology partner with live Apps on the SAP Store.

Amit, tell us about the development case for NGA’s HR Cloud Accelerator Apps
It is also recognized that in the world of SaaS, Human Capital Management (HCM) software is designed for standard processes, and that there will be many areas of functionality that could serve some, but not all users’ business requirements.

While SAP has a robust pipeline of core application enhancements, they have created the Hana App Store and the partner App development drive to ensure that the SuccessFactors platform delivers to the specific needs of all customers. This App Store concept is unique in the HCM market and has been awaiting insightful innovations to fill its shelves in the HCM category. NGA is the first.

For customers, this means there are limitless opportunities to work with NGA on the Hana Cloud platform to extend functionality and to co-create new extensions to optimize their SuccessFactors business case and user experience.

Why are NGA’s HR Cloud Accelerators so great for HR processes?
We have worked closely with SAP to develop this suite of HR Cloud Accelerator extension Apps on SAP’s new PaaS HANA Cloud Platform.

The business benefits are manifold, but immediately, the Apps fill specific functionality white space in Employee Central and present organizations with the ability to quickly set up highly efficient and employee engaging Cloud HR and payroll processes, processes that integrate into your existing processes. Recognizing that more and more organizations are supporting flexible working and BYOD, the Apps have been optimized for use on mobile devices, as well as desktops.

At SAP’s recent sales kick-off meeting in Barcelona, NGA’s HR Cloud Accelerators were presented as an example of a highly innovative and collaborative industry partnership.

Can you tell us more about the HR Cloud Accelerator development timeline?
Case Management Central is live on the SAP Store. This will be followed by HR Request Centraland a range of extension Apps that will continue to fill the white space left in SAP’s development pipeline.

In addition to the published App, and those in our development pipeline, we have had multiple requests to address specific HR process limitations and we will be working directly with these organizations to build bespoke HR Cloud Accelerators to ensure they’re getting the most from SuccessFactors and offering employees the best HR experience.

Why was NGA so quick to take advantage of the HANA Cloud Platform?
We maintain strong relationships with SAP and with our customers. It’s our business to understand what our customers ultimately want to achieve from their HR processes and the limitations they face. With full visibility of SAP’s development timeline, historically we knew whether or not this might be an option.

Isn’t it just as easy for businesses to build the Apps themselves on HANA?
It is an option, but it’s not an easy one. We remove the pain and much of the cost from the set-up process. We deal directly with SAP to manage the set-up. This requires lengthy and complex contract negotiations. The skills are then needed in-house to set-up and use the HANA Cloud Platform effectively.

We already have the platform set-up and optimized and we have the combined IT experience and HR intelligence in-house to build apps on the HANA Cloud Platform fast. We also have the economies of scale to make the development and TCO of these Apps highly efficient.

You can be sure also that any businesses building equivalent HR Cloud Accelerator Apps on the HANA Cloud Platform would not already be benefiting from the functionality our live HR Cloud Accelerators Apps are delivering.

Where and when can businesses download the HR Cloud Accelerators?
The first NGA HR Cloud Accelerator is available on the SAP App Store: NGA Case Management Central, extends the current capabilities of SuccessFactors Employee Central. NGA HR Request Central, will be available imminently. It will optimizes the employee experience where SAP HCM OnPremise and Employee Central have been deployed, side by side.

Why were these first two Apps prioritized?
Armed with customer intelligence, and the knowledge that SAP has no plans to address these limitations in these modules at any time soon, these were the obvious first Apps. The pipeline for adoption is strong.

For absolute process clarity, Case Management Central seamlessly integrates the data from SuccessFactors Employee Central with any HR case management solution. It then presents all HR tickets for management in a single inbox.

This central view of HR tickets and case history immediately reduces the number of queries and speeds the resolution of those remaining. This dramatically reduces admin time by introducing structured communication between the HR service center and the employee. It also greatly increases the feeling of user engagement and satisfaction.

Immediate benefits of Case Management Central

Highly integrated core HR and service delivery systems

Single view of HR ticket and case management processes

Structured communication with HR service center

Management of high volumes of HR/IT-related issues

Faster outcomes, achieving against SLAs

Rationalized processes and costs

Designed for use on smartphones and tablets

Uniquely optimized user experience

And why HR Request Central?

The immediate benefit is the simple streamlining of SAP HCM OnPremise with Employee Central to create a single HR processes from a hybrid system landscape. This is especially great for organizations that are not yet ready to move their HR processes full-fold to the Cloud, but still want to give users a fully engaged, mobile-enabled, self-service experience.

Immediate benefits of NGA HR Request Central

Unifies SAP HCM and SuccessFactors

Self-service visibility into the status of HR tickets for managers and employees

Call volumes and HR service center costs cut by up to 60%

Designed for instant access to data from desktop, smartphone and tablet

Optimized employee experience and engagement

Supports efficient HR transition to Cloud processes

Minimum investment. Maximum output

What does the future hold?

NGA’s HR Cloud Accelerators will add the functionality organizations need to empower your employees to take responsibility and engage with HR teams to ensure the best employee outcomes.

Our partnership with SAP means that we can continue to develop generic and bespoke extensions to SuccessFactors Employee Central, to help organizations remain innovative and competitive when it comes to HR process and people management. The opportunities are boundless. SAP HANA Cloud Platform enablement for SuccessFactors extensions, combined with NGA’s SAP and HR industry knowledge, means that there are few limitations to the impact we can help you make to your HR processes.

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Malcolm Bennett

Malcolm Bennett has been NGA Human Resources Group Counsel and Company Secretary since January 2015. He was previously Associate General Counsel for over 13 years with IBM and previously held legal positions with CMS Cameron McKenna and BHP Billiton prior to that.

Malcolm has experience in managing teams/departments and structuring and negotiating complex commercial transactions in multiple jurisdictions – he now leads a small team of legal, compliance and security professionals for NGA HR across the globe.

He studied Law at the University of Cape Town and now resides in Manchester with wife and son.

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